Burg-uhh

There is a Burger King across the parking lot from our hotel here in Dijon. They do not put Dijon mustard on their whoppers. The word burger comes from the city of Hamburg, Germany, whose immigrants were called "Hamburgers" and brought over the Hamburg steak, a popular 19th century dish of minced or chopped beef.

The city of Dijon, by the way, is the capital of France's Burgundy region. Burgundy got its name a Germanic people who established the Kingdom of the Burgundians in the 5th century in what is now southeastern France.

Other than the first four letters and similarities in their names' Germanic roots, there is nothing remotely connecting Burger King with Burgundy wine. I doubt you were even thinking about this, so I did all the research for you.

There are a great many Burgundy wines, most of which come from either pinot noir (red) or chardonnay (white) grapes. As fans of Pinot Noir generally – shoutout to Oregon's Willamette Valley – we expect to find a lot to like in Burgundy.

At the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie et du Vin cultural center, we learned the Burgundy region is extremely conscious of the specific habitat (or "terroir") of each vineyard, so each wine made from the same grapes will have its own unique taste based on the local climate, soil type, topography, local weather, other organisms growing near the vines, and other such factors. The practice of delineating vineyards based on their terroir goes back to medieval times, and the production of wine in this region goes back over 2,000 years.

We also had a nice walking tour of the old city of Dijon, ate a fabulous outdoor lunch near the market, bought some Fallot Mustard brand dijon mustard (Fallot is the last independent/family mustard mill in Burgundy), and enjoyed sole meunière for dinner... a treat I've been looking forward to since arriving in France.

By the numbers:

3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Burgundy – the Cisterian Abbey of Fontenay, the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene and his at Vézelay, and the Saint-Croix-Notre-Dame church of La Charité-Sur-Ooire

21 days in Europe so far

24 kilos of cheese per person, on average, consumed annually by the French (surely you didn't think I'd leave out cheese!)

40 kilometers long (and less than 2 kilometers wide) – the wine-growing section of Burgundy

40 different flavors sold by Fallot Mustard

400+ different types of soil identified in the Burgundy region

14,185 steps today

76,000+ acres of vineyards in Burgundy

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